


The Black Brothers

by Mr_Gullible



Series: Sirius Black and the boyfriend + brother [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Ending, Angst, Brotherly Love, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Happy Ending, Kinda, Marauders era, Regulus Black Lives, did sirius ever take divination, does this count as angst?, good enough, i dunno but he did now, no romance plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 12:23:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11532150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mr_Gullible/pseuds/Mr_Gullible
Summary: An alternate ending where Sirius is able to save Regulus.





	The Black Brothers

Gazing into the ball, Sirius let out a huff of annoyance. What was he doing this for? Stupid James for daring him into this. Sirius hadn’t done anything related to divination since he was still at Hogwarts. And even then, he wasn’t very good at it. About to give up on seeing anything, he suddenly stopped when there was a sudden green tint to the ball. Leaning in closer, Sirius attempted to concentrate as hard as he could. An image began to form. Now instead of just green, it had a source. It was what appeared to be an island. After that, two figures. One appeared to be a student, the other, a house elf? It only added to his confusion, but determined to find out, he kept his concentration. Once again the image changed. Now this time he only got a brief look. And just the last detail was enough to shake him. Send him to his feet and the ball to the ground. He’d seen someone drowning. The someone he immediately recognised as his brother.

How was he supposed to react? He just saw his brother drown. Even worse, it wasn’t a dream. That was a prediction. It was going to happen. Running a hand roughly through his hair, Sirius let out a shaky sigh. One step at a time. Whatever that glowing stuff was, it was liquid. Start there. He could ask Remus about it, he might think something is up though. Or maybe not. Heading out of the room he quickly found Remus, who was just in the other room with a cup of tea. “Moony,” he started, but paused to think on how to continue. The other was now looking up at him from his seat. “Could you do some research for me? Types of potions, or poisons that glow green? Oh yeah, and what they do and if they need an antidote. That should do.”

Remus stared at him, seemingly with a look of surprise. “Sure but, why can’t you do it? What is it for?” Truth be told there wasn’t really a reason Sirius couldn’t do it. But he also knew Remus would get it done quicker. “No reason.” was his answer. “Thanks, Moony. I’ve got something important to handle.” And with that, he left the room. It wasn’t until now he realised how shaken up he really was. His legs felt as if they’d give out any second. Taking a deep breath he thought of what to do next. He considered getting ahold of Regulus, but what if anyone else found out? Regulus would surely be in trouble. Would Regulus even want to hear from him? Sirius had no idea honestly. Was there even a reason to be freaking out, what if this was years away. Closing his eyes, and despite not wanting to think about it, Sirius concentrated on the last image he saw. It couldn’t be a couple years. Regulus looked like how he did now. Eighteen years old. Sirius’ anxiety picked up again. It was going to happen soon and he had no idea how to stop it. 

He stood there for what felt like a long time. Back home. That’s where he had to go. Remus’ findings could wait. Popping his head back into the room where Remus had now begun going through books he gave a quick “I’m going out” before disappearing once again. Leaving Remus, once again suspicious of what he was up to. Sirius wasted no time changing into something more acceptable for out of the house. Promptly he apparated to his old home. Now what, he thought. Certainly, he wasn’t welcome inside. And if he even tried to get in his parents would surely kill him. Finally, he settled for listening. He’d done much crazier things in the past for pranks, just listening in on his younger brother wasn’t that bad. Probably.

Sirius waited until midnight to hear anything important. It must’ve been that Regulus was waiting until their parents were asleep before talking about anything of significance. Now he and Kreature were talking. Sirius grimaced at the sound of the house-elf’s voice. But forced himself to pay close attention. Regulus was talking about a location. Some type of cave. Now requesting Kreature to take him there. After that, there was silence. They must’ve apparated. So Sirius did the same. It all felt normal until there was a feeling of like, bouncing back. Like he wasn’t permitted wherever this place was. And suddenly. He was wet. Taking a deep breath he was greeted with only water filling his lungs. His eyes shot open to immediately be stung. This was it, he thought briefly. He was going to die before he could save his brother. But in a last attempt effort, he moved in what he could only assume was up, and when he gasped for air, oxygen filled his lungs rather than water. Opening his eyes once again Sirius attempted to get an idea of where he was. 

About 10 feet away was a huge rock formation, and at the top, there was what appeared to be a cave. Had he actually made it? He began swimming towards the rocks when a wave him, sending him towards the rocks at a speed too high for comfort. The blunt pain on his ribs gave away he had reached the rocks. Gripping as well as he could, Sirius pulled himself up onto them. Taking a moment to breathe, a hand gently moved to touch his ribs, earning a wince. That was gonna leave a bruise. Sirius continued his climb to the top. Occasionally the waves got so high, and the rocks were so slippery he nearly fell. Pulling himself to the top, he sighed in relief, the green glow. He made it to the right place. But it quickly changed. Up ahead he could see Regulus laying on the island, and Kreature on his way back across the water.

Once the house elf was across Sirius grabbed him roughly. “What did you do? Why did you leave him?” Sirius spat. Kreature looked up at Sirius, clearly just as unhappy to see him as the other was. “He told me to leave, sir”. Letting out a low growling noise, Sirius released him. Rushing to where he had seen Kreature get on shore, he found the boat and immediately headed to the island. Not quick enough though. Sirius had to watch in horror as the younger Black crawled towards the water in a desperate attempt to get what seemed to be something to drink. The younger of the two didn’t seem to hear Sirius’ shouts, pleading him to stay away from the water. And just when he was nearly at the shore, Regulus went under.

As soon as he was on shore he was in the water once again. Trying to avoid all of the waterlogged corpses as he did. But as soon as he had grabbed hold of Regulus, they began trying to pull him down as well. Gripping as hard as he could at the rocks he continued to drag himself up with much difficulty. Soon he had a new plan. Pulling as hard as he could on his brother, he threw Regulus as far as he could up onto the island. Now with both hands free, he continued to pull himself up. That’s when Sirius realised, he really should’ve told Remus what was going on. He should’ve asked for help. Turning his head for a brief moment, Sirius could see Kreature still standing at the entrance. Probably watching to see if Sirius got himself killed. With all his might he shouted to the house elf. “Get Remus Lupin! Now! Bring him here!” and an instant later, Kreature’s figure was gone. 

Pushing himself as hard as he could with inferi pulling him back, he got up onto the island once more. Sirius scrambled up and grabbed his brother, cradling him tightly in his arms. At the base of the basin, Sirius kicked at any inferi that got too close. Regulus was tense in his arms, crying “I’m sorry, I’m sorry” repeatedly. With a spare moment, Sirius looked down at the younger Black, running his hand over Regulus’ cheek, pushing wet hair from his face. Sirius really wasn’t ready to do this alone. What was he thinking? He was alone with his half dead brother with what could easily be 50 inferi trying to kill them. Suddenly hugging Regulus closer to him, Kreature returned, this time with Remus at his side. But with no more orders coming from the Blacks, and still needing to obey Regulus, Kreature apparated away. 

Remus’ quick thinking is what saved them. Remembering his studies and that inferi were weak to fire, he conjured enough to send them all back into the water, not to resurface. After it was cleared he kneeled down next to the Black brothers, worry written on his face. “Sirius, what happened?”. Sirius looked up at him, with an expression Remus would not easily forget. The older Black had, for the first time, a look of pure fear. “I saw it happen, Rem. I saw him drown. I had to save him! Please, I don’t know what to do…” he pleaded, an undertone of hopelessness. Nodding, Remus carefully helped Sirius to his feet, Sirius all the while refusing to release his brother. “There’s a boat… Should be there” Sirius motioned, and the taller male lead him there. Making sure Sirius was situated, he got in himself and they took off back towards the entrance. 

 

\----

 

The first thing the household learned was not to force Sirius Black away from someone he was worried for. It took lots of elbowing and for James to be hit square in the nose for them to realise this. Some tension was relieved though, when Remus pronounced Regulus would be fine. He had been terrified at the fact that he hadn’t been able to find what Sirius has asked of him earlier. But found it wasn’t necessary, Regulus simply needed lots of rest and lots of water to stay hydrated. Sirius on the other hand, after lots of convincing allowed them to check him for injuries, was found with a couple broken ribs. Which he explained happened when he first got there. The next thing they learned, was that being around the two brothers was going to be exhausting. Once they were both back in good health, the first thing they did was start an argument.

Nobody dared to break them up. Attempting to break an argument that a Black was involved in was bad enough. But when both parties are Blacks? Forget it. The two were heated with each other, to everyone else it was obvious it was because they were worried about each other.  
“Why the hell would you do that if I hadn’t shown up you would’ve died!”.   
“That death is better than whatever the Dark Lord will have in store for me! And if I’m ‘not allowed’ to do that what makes it okay for you to throw yourself into it like that!”

It continued like that for at least two days. By the end of it, everyone was getting pretty sick of the Blacks’ voices. But one night, it simply stopped. It was still early evening. “Maybe they finally killed each other” said James, the others unable to tell if he was joking or not. Upon closer inspection, what they found was the complete opposite. The brothers had fallen asleep. Both were in a sitting position, Sirius had his arm tightly wrapped around Regulus, holding onto his arm. Both brothers were leaning against each other, and both looked exhausted. But along with that, they both seemed peaceful. Something the group hadn’t seen Sirius like in a long time. And though there was still plenty to worry about, Regulus facing the consequences of being a traitor, and Sirius facing the aftermath of that. It was clear they were both happy to just be in each other's company after so long.


End file.
